Presently, many different types of wire sections are used in a wide variety of applications, such as in the automotive industry. The wire sections can include terminals installed on one or both ends of the wire section. Alternatively, separate sections of wire can be connected to each other, such as by welding, crimping or soldering. In many applications, it is desirable to install a protective material around either the terminal after the terminal has been installed on the wire section or the joined section of the wires. This protective material is typically a heat shrink material that is heated after installation and shrinks onto the terminal and wire. If the terminal is small enough, the heat shrink material can be installed onto the wire section after the terminal has been applied. However, in applications in which the terminal size is larger than the opening to the tubular heat shrink material, the heat shrink material must be placed on the wire section prior to installation of the terminal. Currently, no automated solution exists for such application of the heat shrink material.
Therefore, a need exists for an automated method and system for applying the section of heat shrink tubing to the wire section.